Seismic Soundoff

Seismic Soundoff is excited to welcome back Kurt Marfurt. Kurt joined the podcast for our second-ever episode that still remains one of the most popular episodes. For this conversation, Kurt highlights the present state of education and training in geophysics, including the value and benefits of virtual education. He shares his thoughts on the most important area of focus for geophysicists right n...

How can couples best navigate dual careers? How do you balance work-life throughout a career? How can dual-career couples benefit companies? Eve Sprunt answers these questions and shows how management and individuals alike can truly activate the power of dual-career couples. This is a wide-ranging conversation that touches on career development, workplace bullying, how professional societies can p...

In this episode, host Andrew Geary speaks with Sarah Morton Rupert, lead author on "Time-lapse monitoring of stress-field variations within the Lower Permian shales in Kansas" in May's The Leading Edge. This conversation is a great primer on the value of near-surface geophysics to scientists and the public. Whether building a house, building a bridge, or remediating an old salt mine, Sarah provide...

In this episode, host Andrew Geary speaks with biogeophysics pioneer Estella Atekwana. Their conversation highlights Estella's upcoming virtual course called "Biogeophysics: Exploring Earth’s subsurface biosphere using geophysical approaches." Estella explains how geophysical tools helped develop biogeophysics, why microorganisms play such a key role on the Earth, how her research applies to the s...

In this episode, host Andrew Geary showcases Johan Robertsson's upcoming virtual course on generalized sampling and gradiometry. Johan spotlights the importance of mathematician Harry Nyquist to geophysics, explains the increased interest in rotational seismology, what geophysicists can learn from seismic data acquisition on Mars, and shares important advice for anyone seeking to succeed in geophy...

In this episode, host Andrew Geary highlights Sid Misra's course on Machine Learning Techniques for Engineering and Characterization. Sid provides a great background on machine learning and the value it brings to geophysics, why the coding language Python is essential (and easy-to-learn), one action you can take today to succeed in the field, and the advantages of virtual courses over in-person ev...

In this episode, host Andrew Geary highlights Sergey Fomel's Distinguished Lecturer tour, "Automating seismic data analysis and interpretation." Sergey and Andrew dive deep into automatic picking, why humans will always be essential to data analysis and interpretation, the value of this lecture for someone not familiar with programming, and one tip to help anyone succeed as a geophysicist. Note: S...

In this episode, host Andrew Geary highlights David Lumley's article from The Leading Edge in March called "Geophysics and Sustainability." In this timely conversation, David and Andrew discuss the future of geophysics education, areas the SEG could develop to continue to support the science, how climate change might impact the industry, and David's proposal for a new name for SEG. Read David's ar...

In this episode, host Andrew Geary previews Dave Monk's upcoming Distinguished Instructor Short Course. His tour and accompanying book are called Survey Design and Seismic Acquisition for Land, Marine, and In-between in Light of New Technology and Techniques. In this engaging conversation, Dave and Andrew discuss why now is a great time to take an in-depth look at survey design, how full-waveform...

In this insider's look at reservoir characterization for The Leading Edge, host Andrew Geary speaks with Ali Tura, Professor of Geophysics and Director of the Reservoir Characterization Project at Colorado School of Mines. In this conversation, Ali and Andrew discuss the historical importance of this topic, how the techniques and case studies benefit the industry, why multi-disciplinary teams are...

In this episode, host Andrew Geary and Xinming Wu discuss the present and future on deep learning for seismic interpretation. Xinming and Andrew discuss how deep learning can improve training data sets, the importance of open software packages, the value of understanding seismic interpretation across the workflow, and what would happen if this topic reached its full potential. Visit https://seg.or...

In this insider's look at The Leading Edge, host Andrew Geary speaks with Laura Chiaramonte, Technical Leader in the Advanced Generation Sector Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage Group at the Electric Power Research Institute. Andrew and Laura discuss TLE's January special section on carbon dioxide in the subsurface. In this engaging conversation, Laura and Andrew discuss the importance of this to...

In this special episode, host Andrew Geary brings a longtime SEG member and scribe of the Interpreter Sam column - Don Herron - to the podcast to reflect on his 17 years writing for The Leading Edge. The December 2019 issue published the final Interpreter Sam column. In this back-and-forth conversation, Don shares the original idea for the column, the best feedback he received, the future of inter...

In this episode, host Andrew Geary previews Lisa Gavin's upcoming Honorary Lecturer tour in the Pacific South on seismic azimuthal anisotropy. Lisa and Andrew discuss the 3 main reasons it's important to be aware of seismic azimuthal anisotropy, why you should account for it in 4-D seismic interpretation, who this lecture is for, and what excites her about the future of this topic. Visit https://s...

Igor Kvasov, engineering manager at Google and co-founder of SeismoTrack, joins host Andrew Geary to discuss his new book, Numerical Modeling of Seismic Responses from Fractured Reservoirs by the Grid-characteristic Method. Igor and Andrew discuss just what is the grid-characteristic method and its advantages, the future of data acquisition and seismic surveys, why numerical modeling should be use...

In this insider's look at The Leading Edge, host Andrew Geary speaks with Kyle Spikes, Assistant Professor at the University of Texas at Austin, to discuss TLE's November special section on borehole geophysics. Kyle and Andrew discuss the business value of borehole geophysics, the wide-ranging and practical methods highlighted by the papers, mitigating challenges presented by borehole geophysics,...

In this compelling episode, host Andrew Geary speaks with Edward Townend, Staff Geophysicist at Shell and Associate Editor for The Leading Edge, to discuss TLE's October special section on AVO inversion. Ed and Andrew discuss why new and experienced geophysicists should take an interest in AVO, how data science and machine learning are improving the technique, the future of AVO in the industry, an...

In this episode of SEG's flagship podcast, we hear from the SEG President and the keynote speaker from the SEG 2019 in San Antonio, TX. Walter Guidroz serves as Program Coordinator of the Energy Resources Program at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in Reston, Virginia. At the SEG, his keynote address discusses "The Evolution of Unconventional Play Analysis at the USGS." Additionally, the SEG Pres...

In this episode, host Andrew Geary previews the 2019 International Exposition and 89th Annual Meeting. Andrew speaks with the Technical Program Co-Chair on all the educational opportunities, the General Chair on what to expect on the Exhibition Floor, and SEG's new Executive Director highlights what members and attendees can expect in San Antonio. Episode 64 proudly sponsored by TGS. This year mak...

In 2016, Dr. Ron Harris of Brigham Young University led a Geoscientists Without Borders team to Java, Indonesia to help prepare the community for the next tsunami. For this special Soundoff episode, we showcase Ron Harris' project in Java through a short, richly produced and narrative-driven story that captures the spirit of GWB. In Ron's own words, he highlights the moment when his son changed hi...

In this episode, host Andrew Geary speaks with Heloise Lynn on her upcoming North American Honorary Lecturer tour starting 5 September. Andrew and Heloise discuss Leon Thomsen's famous deck of cards from SEG 1986, the controversy surrounding her recent published paper, how anisotropy can be understood by all geophysicists, what would happen if azimuthal P-P seismic measurements reached its full po...

In this episode, host Andrew Geary speaks with Lynn Sykes on his new book, Plate Tectonics and Great Earthquakes: 50 Years of Earth-Shaking Events. Andrew and Lynn discuss how the theory of plate tectonics transformed earth science and the petroleum industry, how earthquakes are more damaging in the Central and Eastern parts of the United States, the role Maurice Ewing played in plate tectonics an...

In this episode, host Andrew Geary speaks with Simon Shaw and Arvind Sharma on July's The Leading Edge that highlights machine learning applications. Simon and Arvind discuss what problems machine learning successfully solves, the requirements and limitations of machine learning, what the next five years hold for the topic, and more. Visit https://seg.org/podcast for links to July's special sectio...

In this episode, host Andrew Geary speaks with Adam Mangel on June's The Leading Edge highlighting near-surface geophysics. Adam explains the reasons to study the near surface, why it applies to a wide-range of professionals, the practical applications for the field, and why more students should look to near-surface geophysics for their future. Visit https://seg.org/podcast for links to June's spe...

In this episode, host Andrew Geary speaks with Michael Burianyk on his new book, Understanding Signals: Basic waveform analysis from a geophysical perspective. In this concise and informative book, Michael walks the reader through one of the foundational principles of geophysics in a way all readers can benefit. This book will help inform all aspects of the field - from geologists to programmers t...